Teaching Psychology?

i graduated in psychology nearly 3 years ago and have been working as an LSA with Key stages 3 and 4, and i have decided to take the plunge and become a teacher! i wanted to do a GTP in social sciences, but there dont seem to be many less than 20 miles away, but a Psychology one has come up.. Do you think its worth training to be just a psychology Teacher? In the future, would other schools hire me to teach additional subjects as well (which i dont mind- RS, citizenship etc) even if i'm only qualified in Psychology?

I'm so confused! and there are no psychology teachers at my school to ask! Help!!

i graduated in psychology nearly 3 years ago and have been working as an LSA with Key stages 3 and 4, and i have decided to take the plunge and become a teacher! i wanted to do a GTP in social sciences, but there dont seem to be many less than 20 miles away, but a Psychology one has come up.. Do you think its worth training to be just a psychology Teacher? In the future, would other schools hire me to teach additional subjects as well (which i dont mind- RS, citizenship etc) even if i'm only qualified in Psychology?

I'm so confused! and there are no psychology teachers at my school to ask! Help!!

Once you've got a secondary PGCE you can teach pretty much anything. I have a social science PGCE from Leicester specialising in Psychology and in my first year began teaching Psychology, drama, PE, citizenship and english!!! I'm now really fortunate to only teach psychology but that is rare. Basically you'll be used where you are needed.

I did a GTP in Psychology and science last year and am now Head of psychology and teach some GCSE science and some citizenship. It doesn't matter what the main subject is that you train to teach, schools have to use you where ever they can, so the more subjects you are happy to teach the better. So wanting to teach other social sciences is a bonus for future employers. Hope that helps.

Hi, I was going to do my PGCE in Citizenship as I had a background in Law. I however, was advised to do History, in order to be more 'employable'. However, I'm now teaching very little History, 4 periods, out of 35 and the remainder of the time I teach an array of subjects! I would train and you will end up teaching what your school need you to! Go for it!!

I am a primary teacher but recently completed and OU degree in Psychology. Got a 2:1. Do I have a chance of being taken on by a secondary school or college? I have QTS of course but all my experience is primary.

I have a Psychology degree but my PGCE is in further and Higher Ed. I work in a secondary school. Although the local authority won't pay me as QTS 5the school pays the 'difference'. The problem is now I am unable to go through threshold.There is no way I was going to 're-do' my PGCE. I may now seek work in a sixth form college or FE. This would be my preferred option but if you want to work in secondary have a go!

I don't think you'll have a problem getting a job teaching psychology, in fact, you would be considered a 'specialist' if you have a degree in the subject. There does tend to be regional variations in vacancies. For example, areas where PGCEs are available in Soc Sciences will have a lot of NQTs going for the jobs, but as there are only 5 instituations offering this in the whole of the UK, you should be able to find full time work, (depending on where you live). Psychology is one of the most popular A Levels, so the demand for teachers isn't going to diminish.

Morty
You can go through threshold in your NQT year. You don't have to wait until after. As long as you have QTS and are on M6 you can do it. I went through threshold as soon as I'd finished my GTP. I rang and checked and there is nothing to say you can't go through threshold whist you are an NQT.

Can any one help me with a potential problem that I could be facing in September?

I have a degree in psychology and a PGCE (post-compulsory) from the Institute of Education and this is now my 3rd year of teaching. My potential problem is that I've found part-time supply work as a Psychology teacher to the sixth formers at a lovely catholic girls' school in Essex. At the moment, the school is so grateful to have me there, that it doesn't care that I don't have QTS and as everyone has been nice to me so far, I would seriously consider staying there if the job were offered to me permanently! The only potential problem is that if I were offered the job permanently and accepted, I would have to do the GTP, in order to be paid as a qualified teacher (I'm currently on spine point 10 or whatever it is on the unqualified scale which I'm happy with because the hourly late is only slightly less than that that I would earn as an FE teacher). Not a prob in itself, except that when I had an 'informal' chat for the supply job, the senior staff made noises about me teaching German (I have an A level in it) and foundation ICT (I have an ECDL) to the lower school. Therein lies the problem! I really do NOT want to become a secondary school teacher because I'm not interested in that phase of education and to be frank, know that I'm not cut out for it because I had a bad teaching course experience and NQT year which severely knocked my confidence, so although I've built it up again (and have had very few problems with my students since my previously bad experiences and have been told that I'm a good teacher), I still find classroom management very difficult, as my brain always expects the worst to happen every lesson. So my question is:

part a) Am I legally required to do the GTP at all if I stick to the 6th form and am happy to continue being paid on the unqualified lecturer scale?

part b) If I do gain QTS, am I legally required to teach the lower school?

If the answer is yes to the above, does that mean that I can never work in school 6th forms on a permanent basis?

The answer really is to teach part time at the school and look for part time work somewhere else. You may still have to do the GTP and it is better moneywise if you do. I've almost finished the GTP and it isn't that bad. lots of paperwork but not difficult (I'm in my 4th year of teaching and I have a PGCE PCET).

So the long and the short of it is - can you find another school nearby that needs a psychology teahcer part time? I wrote to all the local schools and I found a lot of work. I could have made a living out of it, but I got my current post that suits better. I have no intention of teaching below 6th form.

Your answer's very reassuring! So you're saying that if I get QTS, I CAN refuse to teach anyone below 6th form if I want to. I probably will do as you suggest. i.e. work part-time in the school and part-time somewhere else if the timetabling fits.

I think I'm just about to encounter a similar problem to Lynsita. I also have a degree in psychology (and also a PhD in cognitive science) as well as a PGCE (PCET for psychology). I'm currently a Head of Department for psychology at an independent school but for a variety of reasons I am looking for a position as a teacher of psychology (not HoD) in the state sector. However, I have just been told by one school NOT to apply as I am underqualified - because my PGCE did not give me QTS they say they cannot employ me from this September onwards.

I don't want to do another PGCE, and I only want to teach A level - definitely not GSCE psychology or GCSE social science. Is it really true that I am not qualified to teach in the sixth-form of a state school? The area I live in does not have many sixth-form or FE colleges and so if it is the case that I would have to retrain I'm going to have to seriously consider leaving teaching!

(Apparantly it is possible to attain QTS without redoing a PGCE at the University of Gloucester but only for some subjects and not psychology.)

you can still work in schools as an 'unqualified' teacher, which is what many psychology teachers do. They will pay you less. However it is easy to do the GTP if the school will back you. I've been doing mine over 1.5 terms, its lots of paperwork but it is not hard. I will have QTS by easter.

Was it the Head teacher who told you not to apply or admin? It might be worth talking to the LA about this and getting it clarified. Psychology would ground to a halt in most schools if they only employed teachers with QTS!!

I'm glad that I'm not the only person with this problem and confusion. I read an article about this in the TES last Tuesday which said that someone should to solve this situation, as apparently, there are quite a few teachers in the same boat as us, which schools are increasingly happy to employ on an 'interim' basis but then get all hot and bothered about it when it comes to giving us permanent jobs. To make matters, worse we've now got the institute for learning as well as the GTC. What I find laughable is the fact that the government initally rejected Tomlinson and is now implementing its own version of Tomlinson e.g. increasing the leaving age to 18 and prioritising funding to schools keeping 6th form students on which involves introducing more specialised subjects, such as A level psychology which not many secondary school teachers are qualified to teach properly, yet barring the specialists like us from entering this environment. I wish that the government would introduce a qualification or recoginition path for people like us who are happy to teach FE students in a school but want to stick to teaching in this sector. My reasoning is that if I wanted to be a secondary school teacher, I would have done the BEd or Secondary PGCE in the first place. I don't object to doing the GTP, even without the financial incentive, but I do object to teaching subjects and students that are outside my specialism and professional interests because the government has created this mess, as it renders my current experience and qualifications a complete waste of time! Sorry for the rant, but I find the policies dictating this type of policy to be extremely short-sighted on the government's part! In any case, I'm a black and white thinker and hate grey areas anyway! ;-)

I hate to get into this, but qualified or not qualified, if you work in a school they can require you to teach lower school. This may only be on cover but it can be required.

It doesnt even have to appear in your contract as such. It comes under the catch all " and any duties that might from time to time be required "

Unless yopur contract is part time and very hour you spend in the school is contact time you are at risk as it were from being called to teach lower school.
If you have any non contact hours they can be used. When your students are doing exams you can be used and if the school want to vary your contract because of insufficient classes in your own subject you could be called on to teach on more long term basis in lower school.